Zodiac's Brew
by palindromeadams
Summary: After struggling to write the fourth movement for a piece for his music composition class, Natsu decided to find a new place to look for some inspiration. During this search, he stumbles upon a peculiar little cafe called Zodiac's Brew.


So... This is my first fanfic.

It's unbetaed, unedited, and constructive criticism is welcomed.

Thank you for reading :)

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The sound of laughter drifted up from the street below, making him feel very alone in this new town. Natsu had moved to Magnolia a month ago from Crocus because of a full-ride musical scholarship that he was offered at Fairy Tail University. He let out a sigh as he looked up from the scattered and crumpled up sheets of music that covered his living room table. He had made little progress on the rough score that he was supposed to submit for his musical writing class, but it was due tomorrow and he needed to get it done. A soft meow came from behind him as his cat, Happy, rubbed up against his feet.

"Hey little buddy, you hungry?" he asked grateful for the distraction, "Let's get you some fish eh?"

He stood up stretching his arms up and feeling the satisfaction of his back popping after sitting for hours. Natsu padded into the kitchen, the blue cat trailing after. He put some fish on a small dish and set it on the counter for the cat to eat.

"I'm having no luck Haps." He sighed leaning on the counter watching as his cat happily ate his meal. "I can't seem to make it past the third movement, and I need at least two more before I've met the requirement."

Natsu's head hit the counter with a soft thud. "Maybe I should get out of the apartment and try to get some inspiration elsewhere…"

He looked out the window at the blue sky and sunshine waiting out there. "Yup, I need to get out of here." He walked back out to the living room and gathered up the completed sheets of music and a small stack of blank pages. He slid them carefully into his music folder before walking over to his front door and slipped on his shoes.

"I'll see you in a bit Happy, be good and don't eat everything." He called out to the cat still in the kitchen. An offended meow came from the kitchen and Natsu let out a small chuckle before grabbing his keys and wallet and walked out the door, locking it behind him.

Natsu trudged down the steps and out onto the street squinting as the sunlight blinded him. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and headed out to find somewhere that he felt some sort of inspiration. He walked for ten minutes before stumbling upon a small café.

"The Zodiac's Brew? What a weird name for a coffee shop." He mumbled, before walking into the shop and was immediately hit with the warm smell of coffee and cinnamon.

"Hello! Welcome to Zodiac's Brew! Let me know when you're ready to order!" A voice from behind the counter called out over the sound of a coffee grinder. Natsu nodded before looking around the shop. It was a little place with only a few patrons scattered about, but it was cozy, and the chairs looked comfortable. The ceiling was painted a dark blue with constellations scattered throughout, one wall was a warm gold while the rest matched the ceiling. The tables were a warm-toned wood each with a little sign depicting one of the 12 zodiac signs.

Natsu walked over to the table with the Aries symbol and set his folder down before walking over to look at the menu. All the drinks were named after stars and the foods after other celestial bodies. A small smile bloomed on Natsu's face as he looked at all the passion and care that went into the chalkboard menu. Little drawings of the symbols of the constellations were scattered around the food names and there were fun facts about space in the corners. The very last chalkboard was filled with today's astrology reading for each of the signs.

"What can I get started for you today?" A sweet voice asked startling Natsu out of his thoughts. He looked down and into warm brown eyes on a face with a wide smile, framed by golden hair.

"Uh, I'll have the Spica Spiced Cider, and Draco's Panini." He said with a grin.

"Coming right up! Go ahead and take a seat and I'll bring it out to you when it's done." The girl said before starting on his order.

"Thank you!" Natsu replied before strolling over to his folder and started back up on his composition. The ambiance from the shop seemed to help the notes fall onto the page as Natsu zoned into his piece. As his pencil skimmed across the page soft humming came from the pink-haired boy. A soft tap startled Natsu from his focus causing him to jump slightly in his seat.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to startle you but I'd been calling you for a bit and you weren't responding." The blonde muttered, "Your order is done, and I didn't want to set it on your work."

Natsu looked up at the blonde, "Ah no worries, sorry about that I kinda get sucked in when I get into a flow." He said sheepishly, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. He quickly gathered up the music into a pile so there was enough room for his order.

"I understand that," she set down the plate and mug in front of the pinkette, "I get absorbed into writing and the outside world disappears." She gave the boy a grin and slipped her hands into her apron pockets.

"What are you composing?" She asked her head tilting slightly.

"I have to compose a five-movement piece for my music comp class. I hit a block at home so I thought a change of scenery would help get the juices flowing, and it worked." Natsu took a sip of the cider and let out a satisfied sigh.

"This is really good, thank you…." His eyes caught the golden name tag over her heart, "Lucy. It's probably the best cider I've had." A large smile split his face as he caught her eyes again.

A smile spread across her face. "No problem, it's an old family recipe so I'd hope it'd be to your liking." She laughed lightly, "Do you go to FTU?"

"Yup." Natsu replied, "Transferred in at the start of the semester for composition and musical performance.'"

"Nice, I'm going for business administration and astronomy."

"Wow, there's like no cross over there. You must be really passionate about both of those, 'cause that sounds like literal death." Natsu said running his hand through his hair.

Lucy let out a laugh, the sound echoing slightly in the small building, Natsu decided that her laugh was adorable, and he wanted to hear it more.

"I really love astronomy, but my dad is making me take business administration because it's a "real" degree that will guarantee me a job when I graduate." She let out a sigh, "If I had the choice I wouldn't be taking it, and I'd be doing creative writing, but in order to not be disowned, I'll take the business courses. I need the money right now, but as soon as I save up enough to support myself, I'm going to drop all of the business courses and take what I want." A soft smile graced her face.

A scowl replaced his smile, "That's not fair, you're an adult woman that can make her own choices and should be allowed to do what she's passionate about." Natsu firmly stated.

A surprised look crossed Lucy's face before it melted into a warm smile, "Thanks, but he's paying for my schooling, so he has some say in what I do." Her hand settled lightly on his shoulder.

Natsu's lips scrunched into a pout, "He shouldn't have any say. He should let you do what you want to, it's your life, your passions, your choice, no man or person should decide for you. Man, if Erza heard this she'd be going to kick your dad's butt." His voice started off strong before being brought down to a mumble.

Lucy's mouth opened to reply, when the door opened, "Hello! Welcome to Zodiac's Brew! Let me know when you're ready to order!" she called out to the customer that walked in before turning back to Natsu. "Thank you, you're the first person to say something that nice to me. I've got to get back to work, but I'll see you around….."

"Natsu, my name is Natsu, but what I said isn't nice it's the truth, no one should have their fate decided for them, we carve our own path in life."

Lucy gave him another smile, "Thank you Natsu, I really liked talking to you. You can find me here on the weekends and from 3 to 9 on weekdays. Any other time I'm not in class, I'm either in the library or in the Astro building. I'd really enjoy getting to talk to you again."

A soft blush skimmed across the top of his ears, "I'd love to talk to you too Lucy, I'll try to pop in here when I can, but I'm mostly either in my apartment or hiding in one of the practice rooms in the music hall." He gave her a grin.

The pair smiled at each other before the sound of a bell pulled the two from their gaze. A blush covered Lucy's face when she realized they had been staring in each other's eyes for an undefined amount of time.

"Ah well, I have to get back to work. See you around Natsu." She gave him one last smile before she walked back towards the counter.

"See ya' Lucy." He said softly before he turned back towards his food, drink, and music sheets and began to chow down.

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I don't know if I'll continue this it was more of an "I feel like writing let's spit this out." type thing. I stumbled upon a random first line generator and decided to write what came to mind, so unplanned but I could come up with more. Let me know if you want me to continue.

Thank you!


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